And so the first phase of the Great Whedon Experiment has come to a conclusion: I have finished Buffy and Angel. It's been quite and experience. Seasons have flown by in mere days and so much has been learned. Here are some fast facts:
- The best way to watch these shows is interwoven. Due to the fact that they split networks, and therefore schedules, this takes a bit of work to get right but I used this guide and it served me well. There are a few crossovers that seem cheap and out of place without context from the other show.
- Buffy switches from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratios between the 3rd and 4th seasons. The editing never quite caught on and so there are a number of slip-ups and unfinished effects. I'll show you some later.
- Angel is not Buffy 2. If you go in expecting it to be more Buffy you won't be happy.
And that actually brings me around to something I discovered. Buffy and Angel change the world. Well, at least their world. The problem with a lot of fantasy TV is that the characters end up dealing with gigantic forces (gods, ancient creatures, spells of immense power) and that these shows often use them interchangeably. Possibly only power level of the threat is ramped up for the season while continuing on a template. Supernatural was lousy with this; Demons replaced by Angels replaced by Leviathan. Each was "bigger and badder" but functioned in essentially the same way. This is completely understandable. If the antagonistic force changed significantly then the show would have to as well. Want Sam and Dean to keep roaming the country, stopping to fight evil? Then keep the forces against them essentially the same, just leveling them up each year. If things really did change then the whole show would. Instead we usually get the new version of fill in the blank and that leads to a gradual change in tone and little else.
Buffy tried and, much more significantly, Angel tried and succeeded in changing that. Buffy's problem was that the show was stuck in a bit of a morality tale trench. The first two seasons are strictly high school metaphor and the number of "sex is bad" episodes gets a bit silly after 3 of them. The main conflict and villain ties directly to Buffy (in order we have the finales comprising being in high school, boyfriends, graduating, the mess of season 4, family, drugs/the mundanity of life, leaving home. There's the attempt at an escalation but it's not fulfilled. Somehow she goes from fighting weird and mystical individuals to full bodied demons, gods, and the incarnation of pure evil and it never leaves her home town. There's no big picture, just big feelings.
Angel is where Joss Whedon lets loose and actually attempts to push the conflict up each season. Angel goes from fighting individuals to averting the apocalypse but the show changes as well. The first season is a police procedural, season two ends as a questing fantasy, three spends a lot of time world-building so while things grow they grow a bit backward, four is a soap-opera mess and what the hell is with the fourth season of these shows?, and five is a world-spanning sit-com that just goes for it in every episode.
Why was Angel so different? It's probably a mix of changing networks, constantly trying to find a new voice while not losing Buffy fans, being able to experiment because of its low ratings, and having to experiment because of its low ratings. It wasn't low risk, it was all risk. Of course most shows can't take that sort of chance and change their genre each season. But watching Angel makes me wish that some shows did. I will admit that many shows that seem to overstay their welcome simply do that; they go on far longer than they should. But then there are the shows that don't explicitly go bad but just become unengaging (Supernatural). These are the shows that could do with a major overhaul rather than a little freshening up. And maybe shows shouldn't be afraid to do that. Angel was constantly on the verge of cancellation but it lasted five years. That's not a flop. So if a show on the edge could keep it up for half decade then what could a show doing well manage when mixing it up?
And now a gallery of some of the best "What do you mean we're in widescreen" moments from the show. Feel free to share yours if you have any more.
I’m going to actually look directly at my un-manacled hand.
This guy was supposedly cut in half but I can clearly see his green screen pants.
Hard to tell because it’s so dark but that hand on the left side? That’s shaking a vine because the plant is alive.
The Body was a pretty heavy episode. Apparently the crew was to depressed to either finish the set behind the door on the right, or even close the door.
Wave high to the crew member chilling on the bottom of the screen.
Were this not widescreen I’m sure we wouldn’t see Spike’s modesty man-panties.
No one trained the animal trainer not to step into the scene.
